Congress, Arizona to Hope, Arizona
On the road before sunrise. Air is cool and the road is flat. Morning desert ride down AZ 71 to Aquila for breakfast, 25 miles between the Vulture and Buckskin Mountain. I am amazed at how green the desert is, considering minuscule average rainfall. Somehow life seems to find a way to thrive and adapt to any conditions.
I pass stands of saguaro cactus, looking like soldiers watching over the desert. My bike flushes out birds from the low brush alongside the road. Every possible shade of green can be found and the brown jagged peaks in the background set off the greens even more. A sign says, “Los Angeles, 333 miles.” Wow - getting close!
I pass some cattle grazing and four of them see me and start running away - cue the Marlboro music again. Then another two groups see them running and they take off. Herd mentality - what do they think I am, and why are they so afraid of a dude on a bicycle? Anyway, it was fun to watch those little doggies git along...
Didn’t take a siesta as planned, but found a library in Salome, AZ. It was smaller than my living room in a building that was also a small aircraft pilot’s lounge. Didn’t see any planes take off or land but was hoping to meet a pilot and maybe go for a ride. Not to be, but considering the 100+° temps, I was glad to find a cool place to rest and catch up on email and paper mail responses. Had to leave the library, as it closes at lunch for an hour. What? They don’t trust me? So I hung out on the shady side of the building for an hour until the librarian returned.
Found some pictures on the internet of places in Arizona I had been through. Even found a picture of John McCulloch, the owner of the Teec Nos Pos Trading Post, who let me sleep on his store’s patio when I had all my bike troubles. So I figured I’d post them so people would have some visuals of what I’m seeing out here in Arizona. Around 5 PM I left Salome and tried to make it to Brenda, AZ. Passed a town called Hope, AZ and took a picture of the sign with the town’s name on it and some clouds, a saguaro and some mountains behind it. Yes, there is Hope!
The sun set very quickly and I decided to just camp in the desert again tonight rather than ride to Brenda. I had everything I needed with me and saw some nice camping spot. A waxing crescent moon was shining brightly through the dusk. Cooked a chicken and rice dinner and was ready for bed by 8:30 PM. Hope the snakes and scorpions are friendly. It’s still pretty hot but I’m tired so I’ll sleep well and it will cool off through the night.
Totals for the day: 79.28 miles, 5 hrs. 9 min., 3153.4 total miles